


Three Days

by WritingBoi



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Angst, Exorcists, Friendship, I have no idea how to tag this whatsover, Natsume Week, Natsume Yuujinchou - Freeform, Tumblr: Natsume Week 2018, Youkai, Youkai!Natsume, friends - Freeform, imma wing it, no beta we write like dogs without horses, running plot aka i winged this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-30 00:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15084596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingBoi/pseuds/WritingBoi
Summary: Story in which Natsume ran away long before he met the Fujiwaras.--------------------------------------------------------“How about games?” Natsume asks, “Do you know of any games?”Tanuma laughs a little, only to get glared at from behind the mask, “Sorry, It’s just not every day a spirit asks you for games.”





	1. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is for Natsume Week 2018! Released early because I am impatient. It's a "running plot" story in which I make things up as I go, so sorry if anything gets confusing.
> 
> Anywho! Hope you enjoy this~

The forest can be daunting for those unfamiliar with it. Hell, with it’s twisted deer paths, strange echoes, and living shadows it can be terrifying. But for Natsume, it was home.  
  
The world of humans rejected him for his ability to see the otherworldly, so he left it. Why go to another house and be harassed by humans and youkai alike? Youkai were always easier to handle, although considerably scarier, so he left and joined them.  
  
Natsume’s lived in the forest for five years now and he sometimes forgets he’s even human. The forest has swallowed his humanity as much as it could. In fact, a few of the youkai he’s befriended often forget as well, inviting him along to places humans are forbidden to walk. He’s lucky his friends are powerful, his punches aren’t always enough to stop him from being eaten. He’s even begun wearing a wooden mask as to blend in but it doesn’t always work.  
  
He’s moved a couple times over the years and no matter where he goes there’s always youkai and always youkai that want to eat him.  
  
Which is why this silence is so unnerving. There’s no chatter of youkai or of wildlife here. A couple of lower class spirits had complained of a painful energy being released in this part of the woods and asked, read: harassed, him too look into it. It’s probably best he did anyway, as it sounds like the work of an exorcist.  
  
While, in human standards, exorcists (and police) are the most dangerous people for Natsume to interact with. He may have started out human, and still appear so, but things have changed. Police try to metaphorically tie him to the human world while exorcists try to literally tie him to the spiritual one. But he’d rather risk it than have the person eaten alive.  
  
Natsume walks the path carefully, avoiding jostling the plants or stepping on twigs. He wants to see this exorcist before they see him.  
  
After a couple minutes of wandering, he spots him. Or at least he thinks he does.  
  
There’s a dark-haired boy sitting on a fallen log. He’s a bit younger than the typical exorcist, looking about Natsume’s age, and he doesn’t seem to have any weapons on him, at least that he can see. It’s unlikely he’s a spirit, as Natsume doesn’t recognize him and he’s lacking the usual not-quite-human trait that most youkai have.  
  
The thought crosses his mind that maybe he’s just a regular human that’s lost but they’re far from civilization, the only structure an abandoned temple a few miles away.  
  
Natsume inches forward, attempting to get a better view. The boy appears to be meditating?  
  
Snap! Natsume’s steps on one of the dreaded twigs he was being so careful to avoid only minutes before.  
  
Natsume whirls behind a tree as the sudden noise draws the other’s attention.  
  
“Hello? Is someone there?” The stranger’s voice is shaky, as though they’re nervous.  
  
Natsume kicks himself, he’s definitely screwed now. He’s too nice to abandon a scared person in the woods, regardless of the fact it’s come back to bite him countless times.  
  
This could be a spirit that draws people in only to knock them out with an energy wave and then eat them. An exorcist hoping to draw him out.  
  
“I think I’m lost? I was on a trail but I lost it...” The stranger sniffles softly.  
  
Yup. Absolutely screwed. Natsume kicks himself again for not bringing one of the “dogs” along with him.  
  
“Where are you from?” Natsume asks, not yet coming out from behind the tree. He’s caring, not stupid.  
  
The stranger makes a surprised sound, “Yatsuhara Temple, we just moved in. Uh, who are you?” Human then, no new spirit could come from the abandoned place and no exorcist would ask who he was.  
  
So the abandoned temple has been repurchased? That could explain the energy waves, a spiritually strong monk could create a strong enough purification to expel youkai from the surrounding forests. It’s rare but possible.  
  
A soft scuffling alerts Natsume to the stranger’s movements.  
  
“Stay where you are, don’t come closer,” Natsume warns, though he’s really not sure what he’d do if they did.  
  
Luckily, the stranger stops anyway.  
  
“Are you a monk?” Natsume asks though he thinks he already knows the answer. Too young to be an exorcist is likely also too young to be a monk.  
  
“No, but my father is,” he answers.  
  
Natsume think on this for a second before continuing, “I’ll make you a deal then, if you promise to ask your father not to overdo his purifications, I’ll lead you to your temple.”  
  
“I promise?” The stranger’s confusion to the odd promise is palpable, but Natsume feels this human will keep it.  
  
Natsume steps out behind the tree, “Let’s go then. We have a long walk ahead of us.”  
  
The stranger, now that Natsume is close enough to see him, is wearing what appears to be a school uniform, confirming his previous assumption of his age.    
  
They give Natsume’s face, his mask, an odd look but don’t ask about it, instead introducing themselves, “I’m Kaname Tanuma.”  
  
Natsume snorts, they’re smart enough not to question the mask but give away their full name? “I would think the child of a monk would know better than to give away their name so freely.”  
  
Tanuma pales and Natsume feels slightly guilty. It’s bad enough the poor guy’s lost and thinks he’s speaking to a spirit, he shouldn’t tease him.  
  
“Don’t worry, I have no use for it,” Natsume says, some of the anxiety leaving Tanuma’s face, “but some of the others do, so be careful.”  
  
Tanuma nods and is quiet for a moment, the only sound the crunching of fallen leaves as they head in the direction if the temple.  
  
“What can I call you?” Tanuma asks.  
  
Natsume stops, he’s not been asked that in a long time. Usually he’s just refered to as “human” and occasionally as “Reiko.” Other humans who spot him usually go with “hey” or “you.” And the youkai he considers friends simply call him Ko, though a couple do know his real name.  
  
Though he literally just warned Tanuma of the dangers of giving away his real name, the temptation to be called by his true name again, even for a minute, overrides that concern. Besides, he’ll only know this human for a matter of hours, if not minutes, what’s the harm in it?  
  
“You can call me Natsume,” he says with a smile, though Tanuma can’t see it. Tanuma nods.  
  
As they begin walking again the curiosity on both sides grows. Tanuma desperately wants to know if Natsume is truly a spirit and Natsume wants to ask about human life, something he has not seen in some time.  
  
Eventually then tension bursts. “What’s school like?” Natsume asks, not sure where to start but figuring it as good a question as any.  
  
Tanuma trips a little, obviously not expecting the question.  
  
“Uh, it’s okay, I guess,” Tanuma rubs the back of his neck, “Honestly I haven’t gone much, we just moved in and I’ve been sick on and off these first few weeks.”  
  
Natsume huffs to himself, he was hoping for more than that. Last time he was in a school it was his sixth year and he was only in that new school for two weeks before he left. He remembers the other kids playing games he wasn’t invited to though, he’s played some of them with the dog’s circle. It’d be nice to have some new ones.  
  
“How about games?” Natsume asks, “Do you know of any games?”  
  
Tanuma laughs a little, only to get glared at from behind the mask, “Sorry, It’s just not everyday a spirit asks you for games.”  
  
Natsume decides not to correct the spirit comment, not really sure himself on the answer, leaving Tanuma to his assumption. “And?”  
  
“Well, there’s Shogi? It’s a board game?” Tanuma says, “There’s a board a bunch of black and white tiles? It’s pretty fun, though I’ve only ever played it with my dad.”

Natsume’s heart falls, a board? Tiles? He doesn’t have access to anything like that. Of course, he could make one but he doesn’t actually know what it looks like.

Tanuma must feel the change as he continues on, “I could teach you sometime?” He glances around at the trees, “Nearer to the temple, I mean.”

Natsume’s surprised, whether Tanuma has realized it himself or not he’s just guaranteed his safety. While Natsume truly did intend to lead him home, with any other spirit it’s important to rope them in to it. The promise before holds, yes, but personal interest ensures you get there in one piece. Hinoe, a youkai that had once helped him, although reluctantly, had taught him about that.

Also he really wants to learn a new game.

“That’d be nice, Tanuma, thank you,” Natsume says. It would also be nice to learn how the world’s changed since he left. He’s come out occasionally during events, yes, but that’s hardly a good representation of current society… Maybe it’s safe now? Natsume shakes the thought away. He’s happy here. He’s safe here. There’s no need to leave, he’s just… curious.

Tanuma asks to meet again in three days, just off the outskirts of the temple’s forest, and Natsume agrees, his excitement overriding his worry of capture. He can always bring one of the dogs with him next time just in case.

They finally reach the tree line moments later, Natsume took them down a special path which turned an hour walk into a minute’s stroll. Usually he’s not allowed to show it to outsiders but for some reason he trusts Tanuma already. Plus he doubts Tanuma will remember it.

“So I’ll see you at noon in three days then, Tanuma,” Natsume says as Tanuma crosses the tree line.

“See you then, Natsume,” Tanuma smiles and Natsume feels overwhelmed. He hasn’t heard his on name said by someone in years and he hasn’t heard it said kindly in double that.

He decides he likes it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You either liked this or am hunting down my address to put a stop to this horrible writing. Either way, please leave a comment! :b
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


	2. Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two, up seconds after the first because I, my dear readers, am impatient.

Apparently Tanuma has held up to his promise, as the youkai have been thanking him for “defeating the human.” The area still remains scarce though, many spirits not trusting that it is truly safe yet. It may take some years to return.

As Natsume heads to the place they agreed to met he begins to worry. What if they really were an exorcist? He may have been human before but he’s found he can be trapped as well as any spirit, the only difference being that’d he’d fade away much sooner. A shiver climbs his spine. Or maybe Tanuma thought that he was human and called the police? He was, technically, trespassing after all. People didn’t take kindly to trespassers, no matter how long they’ve lived there before you.

Natsume shakes away the thoughts, remembering the feeling of sincerity Tanuma gave off. Surely he wouldn’t.

Natsume approaches the area early, he knows when noon is… technically. Also he wants to confirm everything is safe before hand.

Natsume thoroughly checks the whole area, finding no traps, strangers, or clicking boxes.

He’d been “caught” by a clicking box before and thought nothing of it, but days later the whole area was swarming with police. He thinks it’s something like a camera, but he’s not seen one like it before. 

Footsteps break him from his thoughts. He slides behind a tree and waits.

“Uh, Natsume? You here?” Tanuma asks, voice calmer than when they first met. Natsume relishes in his name for a moment, it’s nice to hear it. When Natsume doesn’t come out right away, Tanuma mumbles to himself, “Maybe I’ve gone crazy.”

Natsume peers around the tree, “Did you bring the game?”

Tanuma jumps a little and spots Natsume, “I have it,” he shakes a box and it makes soft clunking sounds.

Natsume smiles again and they play.

And so one meeting turns to two, and two to three, and three to many more. Natsume may deny it when youkai ask, saying he just wants to play the game, but he has really begun to enjoy Tanuma’s company. The youkai are his friends, yes, but having a genuine human connection is something he didn’t know he needed.

Soon they were meeting every day. Or at least they were. 

Today marks the third day of Tanuma not coming and Natsume worries he’s scared him away. Did he do something wrong?

Is Tanuma hurt?

Natsume spots Tanuma’s temple through the trees. It’s guarded by talismans but is otherwise unguarded. The pale doors have been pushed open, letting the cool breeze in.

Before he can back out of it, Natsume carefully removes his mask and hangs it on a nearby branch. He pushes his fingers through his long hair, throwing out the old string tying it back. He grabs a new small vine, strips it of its leaves, and ties his hair back again.

His clothes aren’t the nicest thing but it’s too late now and he doesn’t have anything else. This dirty yukata he stole years back is going to have to do.

Natsume gathers his courage and steps outside the treeline. He holds his breath for a moment, almost expecting someone to yell but nothing happens.

Another step. Nothing.

Before he knows it he’s at the temple’s porch, suddenly realizing he doesn’t know what to do. He can’t go in, won’t go in, the walls are already pushing in on him and he’s not even on the porch yet.

“Hello? Do you need something?” Natsume jumps, there’s an older man on the porch now, looking at him expectantly. Natsume realizes this must be Tanuma’s dad.

“I, uh, sorry to intrude, but I’m a… a friend of Tanuma’s?” Natsume feels like his tongue is twice as big as usual. He knew an adult lived here. He knew it, but he’s terrified anyways. Past, forgotten fears swell to the surface, causing his hands to quake under the cloth.

“Really? I didn’t realize Kaname had made a friend already,” the monk smiles down at him. Natsume feels like an imposter. Were they friends? Tanuma didn’t have any other friends? Maybe Natsume’s holding him back… “Well, he’s been sick the past few days. He’s very spiritually sensitive.”

Being around spirits made him sick? That idiot. Natsume may not be one but he was around them enough to give off the same effect.

At Natsume’s disgruntled expression the monk laughs, “You’re welcome to come see him if you’d like, he’s not contagious.”

Natsume shakes his head, “No thanks, I should head back. Tell Tanuma to get better soon.”

Before he can walk away the monk asks, “Can I ask who this message is from?”

Natsume mumbles a, “he’ll know,” before taking off back into the woods, heart pounding. He doesn’t want to do that again. At least he knows Tanuma is okay.

Tanuma returns two days later with an odd expression on his face.

“Dad told me a silver-haired boy came over while I was sick,” Tanuma says slowly, Natsume tries his best to look nonchalant, failing miserably.

“You weren’t here.” Natsume mumbles.

“How come my dad can see your face but I can’t?” Tanuma says gruffly.

Natsume was certain this was going to be about him assuming they were friends, or how he approached his house without permission, but this was about his face?

“You never asked,” Natsume says. He’s never really thought about it. He’s worn the mask for years now. It protects and hides him, it’s a part of him. Spirits rarely take off their own and never ask about other’s.

“Well can I?” Tanuma huffs. Why is this such a big deal to him?

Natsume removes the mask, shaking some strands of hair loose, “Happy?”

Tanuma stares at him for a moment before bursting out laughing, “You look normal!”

Natsume sputters, “What!? What did you think I looked like?”

Tanuma laughs, wiping away tears, “I was worried you had three eyes or something!”

Natsume huffs and puts the mask back on, hiding his red face.

“Aw, come on, I’m sorry!” Tanuma smiles and Natsume removes his mask again, laying it on his lap, “Why do you wear it anyway? If that’s okay to ask, I mean?”

Natsume looks toward the canopy, summer fills the sky but autumn scents the air, the cool breeze dancing through his hair, “It’s safer with the mask.”

“Safer? Like from other spirits?” Tanuma asks, worry filling his voice, “Do they attack you?”

Natsume is quiet, he doesn’t want to lie. Voices ring liar, liar, liar inside his head, as clear as the day they were spoken. But the truth is worse. The truth involves police and fighting and hurt and eventually running again. So he’s quiet.

Tanuma, forever kind, changes the subject.

And so their days continue, times changing as well as seasons but every day just the same. Occasionally Tanuma is sick, something Natsume worries over but finds himself to be too selfish to voice, but Natsume is always there. He’s even brought youkai along occasionally, though Tanuma can’t see them. For a year Natsume is always there, every day.

Until he’s not.

Tanuma waits the first day, confused, sitting for hours talking to the trees and asking about him. Some spirits hear his questions but aren’t sure either. And so he waits, half expecting Natsume to appear from behind a tree like always. The second day he’s worried, asking his dad if he’s seen him and walking farther into the woods searching.

The third day he’s scared. He knows Natsume’s at risk in the forest, as much as the spirit avoid the topic, but never thought something would actually happen.

So he runs, branches whip at his face and arms as he runs past, calling Natsume’s name. Hoping, praying for an answer. Then he trips, rolls down a steep hillside, too fast and too exhausted to stop himself. He comes to a bumpy stop at the bottom, stopping feet away from a large wooden disk on the ground covered in white paper.

Natsume had shown him around the forest several times, as to prevent Tanuma from getting lost again, but he doesn’t recognize this. He approaches it carefully, there’s writing on the white papers but it’s not any language he knows of. As he gets closer he can hear a soft sobbing noise.

“Natsume? Is that you?” Tanuma runs to the lid and listens, all previous self-

preservation gone.

“Tanuma?” A soft voice echoes from beneath the lid, “Tanuma, please let me out, please.”

Tanuma begins desperately tearing at the paper and pulling at the lid, but it doesn’t budge. It’s too heavy.

“Natsume,” Tanuma calls, “Natsume, I- I have go get help. I can’t move it myself.”

A broken sob rips from Natsume’s throat, “No, Tanuma, don’t leave, don’t leave me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, please don’t leave. It’s so dark…”

Tanuma feels like the worst person in the world as he stands, but he has to get help, “I’ll be right back, Natsume.”

Natsume slumps back to the muddy floor as Tanuma leaves, tears running down his face. He knew he had changed, it was obvious. He didn’t need to eat as often and hasn’t felt older in years, but he thought he was still human _enough_. Exorcists would chase and attempt to catch him, yes, but usually when they got close they saw he was human. But this time… this time they didn’t, and when they called the spell to bind him it worked just as well as it would on any spirit, never faltering as the magic usually would when it felt his humanity, but tying tighter until it was too late.

He’s essentially a spirit that’s visible to everyone now, instead of a human that can see spirits. He’s not sure how it happened. A curse? Just the spite of the world against him? Either way, this is what he is now and Tanuma would be right to leave him behind. He’s some sort of monster.

Even as he thinks it tears well up in his eyes, he wants Tanuma. His first human friend.

“Please come back,” he whispers.

Minutes pass and for a moment it feels like he won’t, then, “Natsume? You okay? I got dad, we’re going to get you out.”

Natsume just sniffles and looks down at his broken mask. One of the exorcists had hit it with a long pole, snapping it in half. It used to be just a simple thing, made from a piece bark and twine, but over time it had changed, morphing into a new shape and color. Looking at it now it’s made of porcelain. How didn’t he notice it before?

The biggest change though, is that it feels like a part of him, the sharp crack down the center hurts as much as if it were a scar down his own face.

Natsume stares at it mournfully, longing for something he gave up a long time ago. Something he ran from. The dirt around him hums as though the very roots of the trees are singing to him. He gets it now, it is not a curse, it is a gift. It is exactly what he asked for when he escaped the world of humans years ago.

And as the sun bleeds in through the opening of the seal above him, he understands.

The forest wanted him to have a taste of the humanity he was leaving behind. It was a gift no other spirit could truly experience, as they only mascaraed as humans occasionally. But Natsume? He was human but never truly felt it until it was gone.

For Natsume Takashi was living on a breeze and his time had run out, the exorcist’s well draining him of his last few days. As the lid is finally pulled away Natsume reaches up and envelopes a surprised Tanuma in a hug.

“Thank you, Tanuma, for everything,” and with that, Natsume smiled, truly smiled, before fading into nothing before the two human’s eyes. He was a true spirit now, invisible to the human eye, but not gone.

And years later, when Tanuma’s studies led him to a pattern that allowed him to see, Natsume was there waiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending surprised me as much as it may, or may not, surprise you. Surprised?
> 
> Please don't forget to leave a comment, thanks!


End file.
